Drizzle Kit Has Free Database Migrations — Here's How to Use It

#database #migrations #typescript #devtools

Prisma Migrate is tied to Prisma. Raw SQL migrations are error-prone. Drizzle Kit generates SQL migrations from your TypeScript schema — type-safe, database-native, no lock-in.

What Is Drizzle Kit?

Drizzle Kit is the CLI companion to Drizzle ORM. It generates SQL migrations from your TypeScript schema, manages migration history, and provides a visual studio for your database.

Quick Start

npm install -D drizzle-kit

// drizzle.config.ts
import { defineConfig } from 'drizzle-kit';

export default defineConfig({
  schema: './src/db/schema.ts',
  out: './drizzle',
  dialect: 'postgresql',
  dbCredentials: {
    url: process.env.DATABASE_URL!,
  },
});

Define Schema

// src/db/schema.ts
import { pgTable, serial, text, timestamp, boolean, integer } from 'drizzle-orm/pg-core';

export const users = pgTable('users', {
  id: serial('id').primaryKey(),
  name: text('name').notNull(),
  email: text('email').unique().notNull(),
  createdAt: timestamp('created_at').defaultNow(),
});

export const posts = pgTable('posts', {
  id: serial('id').primaryKey(),
  title: text('title').notNull(),
  content: text('content'),
  published: boolean('published').default(false),
  authorId: integer('author_id').references(() => users.id),
  createdAt: timestamp('created_at').defaultNow(),
});

Generate & Apply Migrations

# Generate migration from schema changes
npx drizzle-kit generate

# Creates: drizzle/0001_create_users_table.sql
# Pure SQL — review, edit, version control

# Apply migrations
npx drizzle-kit migrate

# Push schema directly (for development)
npx drizzle-kit push

Drizzle Studio

npx drizzle-kit studio
# Opens browser-based database GUI
# Browse data, edit rows, run queries
# No pgAdmin or DBeaver needed

Migration Output (Pure SQL)

-- drizzle/0001_create_users_table.sql
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS "users" (
  "id" serial PRIMARY KEY NOT NULL,
  "name" text NOT NULL,
  "email" text NOT NULL,
  "created_at" timestamp DEFAULT now(),
  CONSTRAINT "users_email_unique" UNIQUE("email")
);

CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS "posts" (
  "id" serial PRIMARY KEY NOT NULL,
  "title" text NOT NULL,
  "content" text,
  "published" boolean DEFAULT false,
  "author_id" integer REFERENCES "users"("id"),
  "created_at" timestamp DEFAULT now()
);

Why Drizzle Kit

Feature	Drizzle Kit	Prisma Migrate	Knex
Output	Pure SQL	Prisma-specific	JS files
Review migrations	SQL files	Shadow DB	JS files
Schema language	TypeScript	Prisma DSL	JS
Studio	Built-in	Paid	No
Lock-in	None	Prisma ecosystem	None